Quad overbooked? Try the Sheraton

Penn's growing popularity is, for the most part, paying dividends for the University. But students living in a hotel this semester might not agree.

Due to the size of the new freshman class -- the number of accepted students who matriculated this year was larger than usual -- about 30 upperclassmen have taken up residence in the Sheraton University City Hotel for the fall semester, or until enough housing opens up on campus to accommodate them.

Dana Matkevich, the coordinator of communications and assessment for Housing Services, said that all students living in the Sheraton opted to do so.

Some students simply found the hotel to be the most convenient choice.

"I didn't want to have to deal with houses, buying furniture and stuff for off-campus housing," College sophomore Sean Tamba-Matthew said.

Tamba-Matthew had signed up to live in one of the the high rise dormitories last spring but "didn't sign up for the waiting list immediately."

By the time he signed up in May, the Sheraton was the remaining option.

Matkevich said that the students were notified in late May and again in July that there would be no available on-campus housing for the fall semester.

The students were given the option of seeking off-campus alternatives but decided to live in the Sheraton and remain on the waiting list for on-campus housing.

College junior Tom Kan was supposed to go abroad this semester but changed his mind in April. He was placed on the waiting list but, due to the number of people already there, he was notified in July that living in the Sheraton might be a possibility.

Kan said that two weeks before school started, he was notified officially that he would be living in the Sheraton for the fall semester.

"It's a bit weird going back to a hotel, but it's fine," he said, adding that he will likely apply for on-campus housing for next semester.

The hotel rooms are set up to resemble dorm-style doubles, with each student receiving a bed, closet and desk. The rooms include private bathrooms but not the hotel's cleaning service. The students have a residential adviser as well.

Students will be paying the same rent as those living in doubles in King's Court/English House -- $2,698 per semester.

On-campus housing was especially difficult to secure this year because of the size of the freshman class, the result of a "record-breaking yield," Dean of Admissions Lee Stetson said.

The Class of 2009 contains 2,554 students, compared to 2,433 enrolled in the Class of 2008.

Tamba-Matthew said that he has not been informed of when he will be leaving the hotel.

Director of Housing and Conference Services Doug Berger said that the upperclassmen in the Sheraton will be moved out of the hotel by the start of spring semester.

"We expect a large turnover due to study abroad," Matkevich said.

However, 467 Penn students are currently abroad, while 227 are registered to be abroad this spring. It is unclear whether the students returning from study abroad will be living in on-campus housing next semester.

"We ... cannot reject anyone from housing," Matkevich said. "This has happened before, but not for a few years."

In addition to the 30 displaced upperclassmen, 24 students meant to live in the Quadrangle were relocated over the summer due to flooding.

The group of freshmen had been assigned to live on the bottom floor of the Butcher and Speakman portions of Ware College House when the section flooded in July.

The students were all relocated within the college houses, though not necessarily within the Quad. They were all notified of their new location by Aug. 1, Berger said, and had been informed that a move would be necessary soon after the flooding.

The relocation of the students is considered to be a "preventative measure," Facilities and Real Estate Services spokesman Tony Sorrentino said.

The same section of Ware flooded in the fall of 2004. The students affected moved to the Sheraton temporarily and were reimbursed for damages.

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